Paul and Leila eloped in an intimate ceremony with their immediate families in the romantic Tuscan countryside. I was honoured to be asked to shoot their wedding. It was an amazing and beautiful start to their marriage.

They stayed in idyllic Villa le Bolli, an ideal retreat to relax and celebrate with their family. Looking out over the pool and up into the hills you can see the town of Radicondoli where Paul and Leila were married by the mayor of the town. The ceremony was in Italian, and then translated, adding to the romance of the day.

Leila’s auntie put together the flower arrangements with locally bought flowers. What a beautiful job she did. There was a special atmosphere in the villa, with the love of family, creating the perfect wedding.

The reason I am a wedding photographer is because I love taking photos of happy people in love, people having fun and living life to the full. Photographs take people back to special times and memories, I feel honoured to be able to do that and I love my job!

With all this cold weather it’s an ideal time to dream of warmer climates. This was one of the most incredible weddings I have ever photographed. Last April I had the pleasure of photographing the stunning wedding of Sarah and Daniel Ruston on the private Island of Pulau Joyo.

Pulau Joyo is a tiny private Indonesian island off the coast of Singapore. The journey there was very exciting, filled with anticipation from all the guests. After taking the ferry to Pula Bintan, we had a very bumpy bus ride across the Island. We were well and truly off the beaten track. After driving through the jungle we arrived at a small wooden jetty where we boarded a private speed boat that took us further into the Java Sea towards our private island.

On the eve of the wedding all the Island guests had a beach BBQ under the stars, with the melodic sounds of reggae in the background it was the perfect way to relax before the big day.

Wedding day is here and the day guests arrive in style. They were met by Sarah and Dan along with warm smiles and cool drink from the Island staff.

The bride and groom’s beach hut was beautiful. Their steps lead straight out onto the hot sand, with a gorgeous view of the sea. As Sarah got her hair done you could hear the gentle waves rolling in against the shore.

Whilst Sarah relaxed with some fizz, Dan was able to have one last swim to cool off around the pool before getting ready. I have never photographed such a relaxed wedding, I totally loved the chilled island vibes.

The beach was simple and beautiful. What an idilic back drop to get married to.

What an entrance! Sarah and her father, Nigel walked through the shade of palm trees towards her husband to be, the sun certainly knew who was the star of the show.

As Sarah and Dan made their vows golden hour approached. The sun slowly setting into the horizon was simply magical.

The dress code of all white certainly worked, all the guests looked amazing, doing the groups shots was so much fun.

As the sun almost set to allow the evening party to begin I took the opportunity to get some shots with Sarah and Dan. What an amazing first view to experience together as husband and wife!

Let the party begin! What a party it was, with a bar down on the beach, the ice cold beers were cracked open, a fine selection of spirits helped the celebrations continued into the early hours.

This was a truly remarkable wedding, and one I will never forget. Thank you Sarah and Dan for finding this paradise and inviting me to photograph your day.

Arthurs seat is such a special place, a dormant volcano dating back to 335 million years ago. It is a magnificent sight within the beautiful city of Edinburgh. What better place for a very romantic, sunrise engagement shoot. Even if the sun didn’t come out behind the clouds, we were still able to use the gorgeous morning light.

From the moment Sheila agreed to a sunrise shoot I knew it was going to be great fun. We arranged to meet at 06:15 on a very dark winters morning near the pond and headed up Arthurs Seat.

Sheila and Seth, both Canadians, were so much fun. Sheila is living and studying in Edinburgh, whilst Seth was visiting for two weeks. They grabbed their chance to get some special engagement photos ahead of their wedding back in Canada this summer. Sheila loves studying in Edinburgh so it was extra special for her to have photographs to remember her time here.

Arthurs seat is such a great location for photography, really stunning, with great views and very accessible. A short 10 minute walk and we had views right down the beautiful East Coast of Scotland.

Up and over on the other side of the hill you get the most magnificent views of Edinburgh city and The Peatland Hills to the south.

I like to make each shoot unique, I found out through email chats that Sheilas favorite song just happen to be Sunrise by Norah Jones. I brought my portable speaker along just in case an opportunity organically came up to play the song for a bit of fun. Seth surprised Sheila with her hand made engagement ring that she hadn’t seen yet and proceeded to get down on one knee, I pressed play and the faint sounds of Norah Jones started to play, it was a very special moment.

We took a stroll around the hills, taking in the beautiful views and chatting about Seth’s trip to Edinburgh. It was such a relaxed, chilled shoot which I think really shows in the photos.

Engagement shoots are such a brilliant way of capturing a very special time in people’s lives. The wedding day is of course the big one, a huge celebration of love and commitment. I often feel that an engagement shoot is more intimate, no pressure of having guests, just two people in love having some pictures taken.

It was such a pleasure to take these photos for Sheila and Seth at this poignant time in their lives. They are living 3,317 miles away from each other due to work and study commitments yet are as madly in love as ever and they can’t wait to get married.